Christian Streiff was ousted on Sunday night as chief executive of PSA Peugeot Citroën in a surprise boardroom coup, to be replaced in June by steel boss Philippe Varin at Europe’s second-biggest carmaker.

Mr Streiff’s resignation coincided with news that Rick Wagoner was to step down from General Motors – marking the first unexpected departures by bosses of big automaker since the sharp slide in global car sales began in the third quarter of last year. Japan’s Honda and Toyota will in June both replace chiefs reaching the end of their fixed tenures.